Radioactive Japanese eels

Above normal radioactive cesium levels were detected in wild eel caught in Ibaraki prefecture, north of Tokyo, resulting in the government suspending shipments from the area for the first time.

Ibaraki prefecture catches the most wild eel in the entire country, and the Kasumigaura area is especially well known for producing eel.

Lately, eel from Kasumigaura in Ibaraki prefecture were found to have radioactive cesium levels of 180 becquerel (Bq) per kilogram, while eels from the Nakagawa river system and surrounding ponds were found with 110 Bq per kilogram.

Because these numbers are above the new standards implemented in April, the government issued a suspension on shipments of eel from the Ibaraki area.

I note at least two bits of corporate media propaganda about nuclear energy prove to be untrue:

1. Internationally, supporters of nuclear energy pre-Fukushima used to hold up Japan as an example (Japan had the most modern nuclear reactors in the world; so “very unlike Chernobyl” etc. blah blah blah blah).

2. At the moment, not one nuclear reactor is working in Japan. Pro-nuclear media used to say that if that would happen, then the sky would fall and the most horrible disasters would happen. Well, there is still energy for lighting etc, in Japan. Some disasters, like the radioactive eels, do happen. But not because the nuclear shutoff, but because of TEPCO’s Fukushima.

YES! So true. People here want to be energy efficient and conserve, but there is a concerted campaign by the government and the energy providers to scare people into believing this summer will be one, long rolling black out. Truth is, they are worried that the Japanese people will realise how unnecessary nuclear power really is. I’m really hoping to see Japan push even harder towards renewables, so there is some silver lining to this horrible disaster.

The family of a 58-year-old Japanese woman who set herself on fire after the 2011 quake and tsunami will file a lawsuit against the operator of a nuclear plant that went into meltdown after the giant wave hit, local media reports say.

They will seek $910,000 in damages in the death of Hamako Watanabe from the Tokyo Electric Power Co., according to The Japan Times and The Mainichi. They plan to file the lawsuit — which would be the first over a suicide linked to the nuclear crisis — on May 18 in Fukushima District Court.

Yes, you read that correctly — 200 TONS worth of dead sardines. That’s how many fish are believed to have washed ashore in Japan’s Isumi City since June 3rd.

Even more disconcerting? Nobody’s really sure what’s causing the massive die-off. Some outlets are reporting that the fish died due to lack of oxygen; but while large schools of sardines are known to migrate in coastal waters, what could possibly suffocate 200 tons of fish remains a mystery.

People hoping to enjoy kabayaki grilled unagi eel in a special soy-based sauce at the peak of the summer heat–July 22 being this year’s “Doyo no Ushi,” a traditional eel-eating day–will feel the effect of a recent surge in domestic eel prices.

Due to a poor catch for the fourth year in a row, the trading price for young eels, or elvers, has broken last year’s record of about 2.14 million yen per kilogram. The price of live adult eels has also risen.

While many restaurants specializing in eel kabayaki are compelled to raise their prices, competition with restaurant chains selling cheap imported eel has forced the closure of some old stores.

According to the Tokyo unagi kabayaki traders’ association, there were about 130 unagi restaurants in the capital in 2003, but there are only 95 today. Old shops run by individual owners have been the likeliest to close in recent years, according to the association.